Desire follows small rise (5)
I believe the answer is:
surge
'rise' is the definition.
(I know that surge is a more specific form of the action rise)
'desire follows small' is the wordplay.
'desire' becomes 'urge' (I've seen this in other clues).
'follows' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'small' becomes 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size).
'urge' put after 's' is 'SURGE'.
(Other definitions for surge that I've seen before include "Sudden flow" , "Sudden large increase" , "Sudden forward movement" , "Upward rush" , "Rapidly rising water" .)